Back-to-work schemes in Denmark
If you are unable to work due to health reasons and do not have the right to sickness benefit, contact your local municipality. You may have the right to a job assessment process, a resources clarification process or a flexi-job if your ability to work is impaired for a prolonged period. It is also possible that you may be eligible for a rehabilitation programme.
Job assessment process
You may be transferred to a job assessment process if you are unable to work due to illness, but are not entitled to have your sickness benefit extended.
A job assessment process involves meetings with a rehabilitation team from your municipality to draw up a scheme that meets your needs. After an initial evaluation, your caseworker will arrange various activities designed to help you get back to work. These can include measures covered by employment law, e.g. work-experience placements, jobs with wage subsidies or a gradual return to work if you already have a job. Or they may be covered by other legislation, e.g. help with challenges related to diet and exercise, rehabilitation therapy under the Health Act, or help with challenges related to household budgeting, children and the family under the Social Services Act.
A job assessment process may last a maximum of two years. If after the process you are still unfit for work due to illness, you have the possibility of receiving a second job assessment process. While you are on the programme you have the right to a resource allowance as long as you take part in the activities outlined in the rehabilitation plan. Resource allowances are not paid out abroad.
If you live in another EU or EEA country but work in Denmark, you will usually have the right to Danish sickness benefit in the event of illness. You must be resident in Denmark to take part in a job assessment process and receive a resource allowance. In other words, if you live in another EU or EEA country, you will not generally have the right to a Danish job assessment process or resource allowance.
However, if you are an EU or EEA citizen, the allowance may be paid if you meet the following conditions:
- You are still employed by an employer in Denmark.
- The activities under the job assessment process take place in Denmark.
- You actively participate in your job assessment process in Denmark.
Resource clarification process, flexi-jobs and disability pension
Local authority rehabilitation teams are responsible for all cases involving personal resources programmes, flexi-jobs and disability pension. The teams make recommendations to the local municipality about the option that suits you best: a resource clarification process, flexi-job, disability pension, or some other form of back-to-work scheme. You and your caseworker take part in the meeting with the team.
Resource clarification processes are offered to individuals who are at risk of being put on sickness compensation. The process is designed to develop your ability to work and find you a job or a form of education or training that matches your abilities.
A resource programme may consist of various activities, but is structured to match your individual situation. Some of the activities will take place at the same time as each other, while others will be extensions of previous activities. The aim is always to improve your ability to achieve goals and find appropriate work, training or education. You will have regular meetings with your caseworker at which the activities can be reviewed and changed if necessary.
A resource clarification process can last from one to five years. While you are on the programme you have the right to resource allowance as long as you take part in the activities outlined in the rehabilitation plan.
The allowance cannot be paid if you are living outside Denmark.
A flexi-job is a form of employment that takes into account that your ability to work is limited due to health reasons. In other words, the nature of the work and the hours are tailored to your abilities.
To qualify for a flexi-job, you must meet the following conditions:
- You must be under the state pension age
- Your municipality must assess that your capacity to work is significantly and permanently limited
- All other opportunities for regular employment, e.g. redeployment, must have been exhausted.
Flexi-jobs exist in all sectors. You may be assigned one in the field for which you are trained or have experience, or you can switch to a new field and use your experience in new ways.
If you live in another EU or EEA country, you can retain your flexi-job in Denmark as long as you are employed by an employer based there.
You can read more about disability pension on the web pages of Info Norden.
Rehabilitation programmes
The purpose of rehabilitation programmes is to help citizens with a limited ability to work – for physical, mental or social reasons – to return to the labour market.
They usually take the form of education, training or retraining, but can also be a work-experience placement or wage-subsidised employment in either the private or public sector.
During the rehabilitation programme you will receive either a rehabilitation allowance, cash benefits, or, in special cases, the standard wage determined by collective agreement.
To be eligible for rehabilitation:
- You must have limited working capacity
- There must be a realistic prospect that you can become fully or partially self-sufficient, and
- Other efforts, e.g. under employment law or under other legislation, are not sufficient to help you to gain or maintain a link with the labour market.
Your local authority will conduct an individual assessment and decide whether or not you qualify for a rehabilitation programme.
Any questions?
If you have any questions, contact your local authority.
More information
Please fill in our contact form if you have any questions or if you have encountered an obstacle in another Nordic country.
NB! If you have questions regarding the processing of a specific case or application, or other personal matters, please contact the relevant authority directly.
